Connoisseurs of Pain & Pleasure
by Demon Lord Cashmere Snow
Summary: A painful past, a fractured mind. Depravity reigns supreme. No pairings yet, notinsanebutunusual!Harry Disclaimer: I don't own HP


Connoisseurs of Pain & Pleasure

**AN: I begin this story, hoping to have the wherewithal and imagination to complete it. I will do what I can, but should the task prove too much for me, I humbly request that you, the reader, take it upon yourselves to finish it.**

August 1991, Hogwarts

Albus Dumbledore was a happy man. The world was at peace, life was good and his plans for the Greater Good of humanity were proceeding just as he had anticipated. He gazed in nostalgia out of the windows of his office recalling years past. His plans would soon come to fruition, the Girl-Who-Lived, or Alice as she liked to be called, was coming to Hogwarts this year.

Soon, very soon, all the pieces would fall into place and the final battle to rid the world of Voldemort would begin in earnest. Tom... he wondered how such a bright and promising lad had turned out so evil. Was it his fault? Could he have done more to prevent this?

Shaking his head lightly to rid himself of depressing thoughts, he absently stroked the plumage of his phoenix companion, Fawkes. He was thankful that his key to redemption would be here soon. Perhaps then he could finally atone for his sins and make his way over to the next great adventure.

Sitting in his comfortable chair, he began to feel his age again. Time had not been kind to him. Granted, he had had a long, prosperous and beautiful life, with many moments of great happiness and joy, but time had also taken from him more than he could ever hope to forget. He recalled all the friends he had seen die before him and had been forced to bury- Arianna, Edgar, Fabian, Gideon and most recently, James.

He could still recall her story. Lily and her children had been the only ones to escape that fateful day, but the sorrow of losing her husband had nearly killed her. The only reason she had held together at the time was for her daughter. Perhaps, if only Tom had had someone like Lily, a mother, he might have been a different person altogether..

Forcefully wrenching himself away from his musings he felt the detector wards around his office go off. It seemed that Minerva was on her way up. What could she want? He was sure that he had completed all his paperwork, was there perhaps an issue with administration that could not wait? Most curious...

The door opened and the cat animagus walked in, in her hand was a letter. So this was about this years enrollment?

"Albus, we have an issue." began the Scottish battle-axe, without preamble. Although she had many faults, rudeness was not one of them. It must have been very urgent or very distressing.

She thrust the letter into his hands.

_Mr. Harry Potter,_

_Cell 238,_

___Denbigh Asylum_

_The letter was standard and unremarkable. He looked into the envelope and spotted a folded piece of ruled paper. It was a pity the Board had denied his request for ruled paper instead of parchment, it was cheaper and more easily available. Gently unfolding the letter, he began to read._

___Dear sir/madam,_

___We here at the __Denbigh Asylum____ are not amused by the nature of your prank. Mr. Potter is one of our patients and to toy with him as such is beyond cruel, it's despicable. We do not appreciate your attempts to cause him distress and we request that you do not attempt to contact him again._

___Yours sincerely,_

___Dr. Sarah Williams._

_Hmm... There was always one every year. For a long time now, he had wondered about the growing skepticism about magic. Perhaps it was for the better that the Muggles didn't want to believe in magic, it made the Statute of Secrecy that much more secure._

_"What of this? It seems perfectly normal to me. Just pop in, demonstrate some magic and that should solve the problem, shouldn't it?", he concluded._

_"Look at the envelope again." she insisted._

_Picking up the envelope he ran his eyes through it again. Harry Potter, he suddenly recalled the name. Lily had given birth to twins, but after the incident with Voldemort, he lost track of what had happened to the boy._

_He frowned and his brow furrowed. Suddenly, it hit him. Denbigh Asylum? The poor boy must have been declared insane for his magic. He'd send Minerva to make sure that the situation was explained. It simply wouldn't do for a child to be in such a place for any longer._

_"I didn't know Lily had a son." the Deputy Headmistress remarked, "And now I find that he's been placed at an insane asylum." She fell silent._

_"Did you know?" she asked suddenly._

_ Albus' eyes lost their customary twinkle. His face looked grave._

_"Do you think I'd allow a child to live in an asylum? Is your opinion of me that poor?" his voice had a good measure of frost to it now. "I knew of his existence, but in the I lost track of him after Alice's defeat of Voldemort." He allowed a moment of silence._

_"Minerva, I want you to put retrieving young Mr. Potter at the top of your list. Go as soon as possible and see to it that the boy is returned safe and sound."_

_Nodding, she left the room, leaving the Headmaster to his thoughts._

_"It seems this will be an interesting year. Very interesting indeed..." he muttered, stroking Fawkes' tail feathers._

_A day later, Denbigh Asylum_

_"... I hope you realize that this is most irregular, Professor." said the Doctor._

_In the past hour, she had not only met the infamous Prof. McGonagall from the 'spurious' letter, but had also been convinced of the credibility of the letter, had had her lampshade turned into a kitten that liked playing with her glasses, had her desk levitated and entertained notions of releasing Harry into her custody._

_She could not, without proper authorization release the boy and had tried to relay that to the magician, but without much success. They had spent a good hour arguing about what was to be done about him. Already, in her mind she could imagine the mountains of paperwork she was going to have to forge to hand the boy over to the school. It was not something she could attend to immediately , but she had assured the Professor that she would have it completed and filed by the time school commenced._

_Eventually, she had agreed to allow the Professor to meet the boy and ensure that he was in good health and did not require any attention from a 'Healer'._

_She sighed. It was going to be a long day. Turning to the school teacher, she decided to tell her the whole story._

_"Before we can meet Harry, I need to tell you about his case and his living conditions."_

_Both women shivered. The truth was always frightening._

_" Harry was admitted here in '86 after a police case disrupted his home life. He lived with his uncle, a certain Vernon Dursley, in Surrey." she stopped hesitantly, why couldn't this have been a better day._

_"...Long story short, the boy suffered from 6 years of abuse; physical, mental and briefly, sexual. As a result, he's... different. I wouldn't call him bad, far from it, his is one of the most... pleasurable cases I've had to deal with. However, for his own safety, we've had to keep him constantly sedated."_

_For a few instants both women were silent._

_Minerva was in shock. She had come expecting a simple case, a boy locked away for his magic. Whatever she had expected the day to hold, this was not one of them. She began to feel grief that she could do nothing for the boy and a deep sense of rage, she had expected better from Lily. Why had the boy been dumped on an abusive family? She made up her mind to take it up with Lily when she gave her a piece of her mind._

_"Here we are."_

_Instantly she was snapped out of her reflections. She was a professional. She had a boy to meet and a Hogwarts offer to make. Taking a deep breath she walked into the room._

_The room took away what little composure she had left. A padded cell, it was notably barren with the exception of a small boy in a straitjacket sitting to one side. Walking up to the boy she let out a gasp._

_The boy was beautiful. The spitting image of James Potter, her prize student, albeit with pools of liquid emerald for eyes. He was sitting cross legged and was observing her curiously, like a child gazing upon a camera or an interesting bauble. Gazing at him, taking in his features, she once again made up her mind to straighten Lily out when she got back to Hogwarts. That woman was in a lot of trouble._

_"Hello" the boy began with a small smile "I'm Harry, I haven't met you before have I?"_

_Smiling, she replied "Indeed you have not, Mr. Potter. My name is Minerva McGonagall and I'm a Professor at the Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. I'm here to offer you a place at our school."_

_"I'd like to accept Professor, if it's alright with Dr. Williams, of course. So magic IS real then? That's wonderful"_

_"Yes, it truly is. Don't worry about Dr. Williams, I've cleared it with her already."_

_There was a pleasant silence as Harry studied his future teacher with fascination. To Minerva, it was almost heartbreaking to see a child in the state he was in. She was glad that he seemed curious. Somehow the boy pulled on her maternal instincts like a magnet._

_"Professor, do all wizards walk like you do?"_

_Momentarily thrown off, she replied, "What do you mean?"_

_Oblivious to her thoughts, he clarified, "The way you walk is like that of a cat; graceful and perfectly balanced. It's beautiful."_

_She smiled, a charmer like his father then. _

_"I'm what's known as an Animagus, I transform into a cat. As a result, my balance in my human form is also improved. It's a very advanced magic that you will learn about in your 7th year at Hogwarts."_

_He smiled wider, curiosity sated. Magic sounded fun._

_At this point Dr. Williams jumped in and announced that it was time to leave. Escorting the teacher to the edge of the premises and seeing her off. She headed back to her office to sort out the paperwork. Hogwarts was in for a shock. Apparently, the magicians didn't seem to understand the problem, but who was she to complain._

_Deputy-Headmistress Minerva McGonagall left with mixed feelings. Not only was the boy in an asylum, he had suffered a great and terrible past. Complicating matters was the fact that the boy was the son of her favorite student, who had been abused by the brother-in-law of the same. What had Lily been thinking, abandoning the boy there? And worst of all, she recalled the Doctor's description of his condition. It was too much to take in. It seemed that Hogwarts was in for an interesting year._


End file.
